


A Birthday Colonel

by zeilfanaat



Series: Language Series [3]
Category: Stargate SG-1
Genre: Gen, Humor, Jack O'Neill knows more than he lets on..., Jack O'Neill's birthday, Jack O'Neill/Janet Fraiser friendship, MacGyver shows up for a little bit
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-29
Updated: 2014-12-29
Packaged: 2018-03-04 04:13:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 10,197
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2918360
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/zeilfanaat/pseuds/zeilfanaat
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Janet wonders what to give the Colonel for his birthday, and remembers their language-secrets.</p><p>Originally written March 2007.<br/>#3 in the Language series.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Yes, the ABC of the title was intentional. Thanks go out towards white rose01 and Astra for beta-reading. Any remaining mistakes are all mine. Especially since silly me made some changes to the German part a few years after it was beta-read. ;)

It was September, and Doctor Janet Fraiser sat at her desk, deep inside Cheyenne Mountain. For once there were no patients in the Infirmary, for which she was very grateful. She knew the peace and quiet could abruptly change into hassle and haste; it happened often enough. And with SG-1 currently off world, there was all the more reason to enjoy the quiet time. You never knew in what condition they would return. 

She didn’t know at what time they were due to arrive, but she knew it was sometime today. Thinking about SGC’s premier team, she came back to her previous thoughts. What to get the Colonel for his birthday? 

It wasn’t easy. The Colonel could talk your ears off, but if you listened carefully, you realised he never really said anything about himself. He was a little more open towards a select group of people, and still the Colonel would surprise them from time to time.

Take German for example. She hadn’t known the Colonel spoke German until she’d caught him and her daughter speaking it with each other. Apparently Jack O’Neill had been helping Cassie with her German-lessons. No one had known, and even Cassie had only found out by accident. Janet had decided then and there to take German lessons as well. You weren’t safe from those two anyway; being unable to understand them _didn’t_ help. 

He had made her promise not to tell the rest of his team though. She smiled at the memory of speaking German to the Colonel, the day after her first lesson. She’d have loved to have seen his face then, but he’d been on the other end of the phone. They had continued to get back at each other until they had called it a truce. What a truce that was! She still needed to get back at him for his Swedish goodbye. 

Suddenly she had an idea. She knew what she wanted to give the Colonel. All she needed to do was figure out whether he had something of a kind.

Yes, she would get back at the Colonel. He wouldn’t know what hit him… or actually, _he_ would, the rest of his team wouldn’t.

* * *

“Hey Uncle Jack!” Cassie yelled as she ran towards Colonel Jack O’Neill, who had just opened his front door. 

“Hey Cass.” The greying man smiled, and pulled her into a hug once she’d reached him. Her mother came at a much more sedate pace. “Hey Doc.”

“Hi Colonel. Thanks for taking Cassie this afternoon. It’s been ages since I’ve seen Nancy.”

“Sure thing, Doc. Do you have time enough for a cup of coffee or something else?” 

“No, I’ll be going right away. I’ll be back before dinner.” 

“You can stay and have dinner here, if you want,” Jack offered. Immediately Cassie looked hopefully at her mother.

“Can we? Please?” Cassie pleaded. With a half-hearted sigh Janet conceded. “Sure, if it’s not too much of a hassle, Sir?”

“It’s not, and it’s Jack.”

“Yes, S-Jack.” 

Cassie giggled, and Jack rolled his eyes. “Sometimes I don’t know why I still bother,” he muttered, but at the same time he smiled at Janet. 

“OK, see you in a few hours then.” 

“Got it. Bye Janet. Have fun,” the Colonel said. 

“Thank you, Sir. Bye, Cassie.”

“Bye Mum!” The two waited for Janet to drive away, and then they went inside. 

“Want anything to drink?” Jack asked, walking towards the kitchen.

“Yes please!” The redheaded girl followed her ‘uncle’, and waited as he opened the fridge. 

“OK, let’s see what we have. There’s Coke, orange juice, milk or water. Or you can have tea.” Jack looked at the food he still had, while waiting for Cassie to answer. 

“Coke,” Cassie said decisively. 

“One Coke coming up,” Jack said, deciding they’d have to get some more food. “We’ll have to go to the shop and fetch us some food, unless you want to eat fish,” he said, knowing Cassie abhorred fish. Her eyes widened at the thought.

“We’ll go to the shop!” She said quickly, only then noticing Jack’s grin. “Oooh, you’re mean!”

“Who, me?” Jack asked, his face taking on an innocent expression. Cassie glared at him, as he handed her her drink. He poured himself a Coke as well – no beer when looking after a kid – and opened one of the cupboards, from which he took a bag of crisps. 

“So, how’s school going?” Jack asked as they walked to his living room. 

“Fine. Actually, we’re doing this project on Europe, and we got to pick a country to talk about, but I couldn’t take Germany ‘cause someone else took it, and now I got Italy.” She pulled a face, and Jack grinned.

“What’s wrong with Italy?” He asked.

“They don’t speak German!” 

“No, but I suppose near the Swiss and Austrian boarders they might speak a bit of German.”

“Huh? They speak German in Switzerland and Austria?”

“Yup. It’s slightly different though. In Switzerland for example they speak Swiss German,” Jack explained as he opened the bag of crisps and put the bag between them on the couch. 

“Really?” Cassie frowned. “Would I understand them?”

Jack grinned. “Maybe not everything, but you’d probably understand the gist. You’d understand the writing.”

“OK. Do you have something I could use?” She asked, getting enthusiastic about the project. Jack thought about that, taking a sip of his Coke. 

“I’m not sure. I could have a look later on. What exactly do you need to find out?”

“Well, its location obviously, and then just things about their culture and what language they speak, and their national… what do you call it, their song?”

“Anthem.”

“Yeah! Those kind of things.” 

“I think I have a book about that. How about this, we’ll first go and get ourselves some food, and then when we get back I’ll see what I can find, ok?”

“Ok!” Cassie said happily, finishing the last of her Coke. “I’m good to go.” 

Jack shook his head at her eagerness, but smiled as he too finished his drink. “OK, let’s go.” 

While Jack picked up his keys, Cassie quickly grabbed a handful of the crisps, before running after her ‘uncle’. 

“Don’t forget your coat,” Jack said, as she sped past him through the door. 

“Aw, do I have to? It’s not that cold!” Cassie pleaded. At Jack’s stern look, she resigned, and took her coat from Jack who held it out to her. Soon they were on their way to the grocery shop a few blocks away. They had decided to walk there instead of taking the car. 

“Uncle Jack?” Cassie asked, slipping her hand into his.

“Yeah?” He asked, looking both ways before crossing the street. 

“How come you know so much about Germany?” 

“I’ve been there a couple of times.” ‘Or should I say, a _long_ time?’ 

“On vacation?” Cassie asked.

“No. For work.” Jack looked at the girl that so often felt like a daughter. But he’d thrown away the privilege of being a father when he’d left a drawer unlocked.

“Ok,” Cassie said, sensing she shouldn’t ask further. But she couldn’t completely quench her curiosity. “Is that where you learnt German?”

Jack shook his head inwardly and smiled. “Yes, that’s where I learnt German.”

“Ok,” she said, before asking, “Have you been in Italy?”

‘Not officially,’ Jack thought, but instead he answered, “I can tell you a bit about it, but I think you’ll find more in books and on the internet.” He just hoped she wouldn’t ask if he spoke Italian.

“What are we going to eat?” Cassie asked suddenly, and Jack was glad for the change of subject. 

“Let’s see what looks good, and then we’ll decide,” Jack offered. “Anything in particular you’d like?”

“Pizza!”

“Shh, we’ll do that again when we’re just with the two of us, ok?” Jack gave her a conspiring wink, which made Cassie giggle.

They bought some food, and returned home again. Once there, they put the food in the fridge, and got themselves another drink. After all, the bag of crisps was still lying there. They finished watching a movie they had started another time and had forgotten about for a while, before Jack decided he’d go and have a try locating the book he had in mind. 

“I’ll be right back,” Jack said to Cassie. “Can you put the videotape away?”

Cassie looked up at him with a frown. “Where are you going?”

“Just fetching something. Don’t worry, I’m not leaving the house.”

“OK.” 

Jack left, and Cassie put the videotape back in its case and into the drawer where Jack kept his videotapes. Suddenly a thought occurred to her. ‘What if Uncle Jack’s trying to find that book?’ She walked through the hallway towards Jack’s bedroom. He wasn’t there, so she went on to his study. She knew where it was located, and she’d been there once when Uncle Jack had shown her a German dictionary website. But she’d never really taken a good look around, so she wasn’t sure if there were any books there.

When she arrived, she peered around the corner. She could only see part of Jack’s shoulder and back, so she quietly pushed the door open further. The grey-haired man stood with his back towards the door, in front of a built-in closet. Cassie tried to look past him, but all she saw were accountancy books. She knew how those looked… her mother had them too, and they were boring!

However, Jack had pulled some of those boring books aside, and Cassie was surprised to find out there were more books behind those accountancy folders. 

Jack pulled out a book, looked at the cover, and replaced it. He was about to pull out another, when he heard the wooden floor squeak, and turned around. ‘Shoot, hadn’t thought she’d try to find me this soon.’ 

“So that’s where you keep your books,” Cassie said, walking into the room, figuring that now that she was spotted, she might as well try and find out as much as possible. 

“Yeah. Now you know, and you’ll keep it to yourself,” Jack said, sighing inwardly. Yet another secret of his that Cassie was privy to. Well, not secret exactly. He had never said that he didn’t have any books. He just didn’t show them, nor mention them. OK, so it was a bit of secret. He turned back and pulled out the book he wanted, wiping off the dust as he turned around. 

“Here it is. I’m sure you’ll find this one enjoyable if not useful.”

“What is it?” She asked curiously. Instead of answering, Jack handed her the book. Cassie’s face lit up.

“ _Rom und Vatikan – die ganze Stadt in Farben_. It’s a book about Italy in German! Wow! Can I borrow it? Please?!” 1

Cassie looked up at him pleadingly.

“No. I searched for it so I could just show you the front cover,” Jack teased. Cassie stuck her tongue out at the man in front of her, at which he grinned. “Yes of course you can.”

“Thanks! How did you get it?” She asked, starting to flip through the pages, while Jack put his accountancy books back where they should be. Soon she had some other questions, her initial question forgotten.

“Onkel Jack, was sind ‘Farben’?” _(Uncle Jack, what does ‘Farben’ mean?)_ Jack put the last book back, and answered, “Man hat viele Farben. Rot, Blau, Orange, Weiß, und so weiter.” _(There are a lot of ‘Farben’. Red, blue, orange, white, and so on.)_

“Oh, colours!”

“Ja.” _(Yes.)_

“Aber, dann verstehe ich diesen Titel nicht.” _(But, then I don’t understand this title.)_

“Lass mich mal sehen,” _(Let me see,)_ Jack said, coming to stand behind Cassie. “Ah, das bedeutet, dass in dem Buch viele bunte Fotos von der Stadt sind, so dass du dir gut vorstellen kannst, wie sie aussieht.” _(Ah, it means there are many colourful pictures in the book, so you’ll be able to better imagine what it looks like.)_

“Aber Fotos sind doch immer in Farbe?” _(But aren’t pictures always in colour?)_

Jack grinned. He had to remind himself that not only was Cassie young, she was also an alien girl, and had most likely just not seen any black and white photographs. He might have to remedy that at some point. Maybe. “Nicht immer, aber du hast recht; jetzt gibt es meist Fotos in Farben. Aber in alten Bücher ist das nicht selbstverständlich. Früher waren die Fotos nur Schwarzweiß.” _(Not always, but you’re right; nowadays there are mostly pictures in colour. But in old books that wasn’t self-evident. In the past, the pictures were only black and white.)_

“Oh, OK, Danke.” _(Oh, ok, thanks.)_

“Ich werde mich um das Essen kümmern. Du kannst einige Notizen machen, wenn du willst. Aber du kannst mir natürlich auch helfen,” _(I’m going to start on dinner. You can make some notes, if you want. Or you can help me with dinner of course,)_ Jack said with a grin. Cassie looked at him and said: “Ein Kompromiss: ich werde in der Küche lesen und Notizen machen, und du kochst.” _(A compromise: I’ll read it in the kitchen and make notes, while you’re cooking.)_

At this Jack pulled a face, but pulled out a drawer and handed Cassie a note block and a pen. “OK, lass uns gehen,” _(Ok, let’s go,)_ he said, and went to the door. Cassie followed reluctantly, having just remembered she had to do something. But she couldn’t do it now anymore, ‘cause then uncle Jack would become suspicious. They went to the kitchen, where Jack went to the fridge, and Cassie sat down at the table in the corner. 

Cassie started reading as Jack started preparing for dinner. She hadn’t meant to, but she was soon engrossed in the book, asking Jack questions about the German or about Italy. After a while she remembered what she’d forgotten earlier on, and looked to see what Jack was doing at that point. He had just turned his back to her to turn the potatoes, so she snuck away, towards Jack’s study. Pulling the chair to the closet, she opened it, stood on the chair and carefully pulled out some of the accountancy books, so she could look at the books behind them. Then she replaced the accountancy books, and took the next few, repeating the process. 

After a while she felt like she was being watched, and turned around. Though half expecting it, she still startled when she saw Jack leaning against the door post, looking at her with one quirked eyebrow. A guilty expression rose to her face, though she tried to stop it. ‘Oops. Busted.’ 

“Hi,” she said, wondering what she should say.

“Hi,” Jack looked at his charge, silently amused by her expression, though he managed to hide it. “What are you doing?”

“Ehm I…” Cassie stumbled over her words. “I was just looking if you had more books that… could help me with my project.”

“Don’t you think I would have given it to you had there been more useful books?”

Suddenly Cassie had an idea. “Ok, ok, I was curious about the rest of your books.” At Jack’s slightly disbelieving look, she continued. “Well, it’s not like anyone ever sees more books around here than… well, those three or four about barbequing fish and classical music. And I’ve always been sure you had more, so when I discovered you had them in the closet I got curious, that’s all.”

“And why were you so sure I had more books than just those three or four about barbequing and classical music?” Jack asked sceptically. 

“Well, you pulled out at least two from behind those folders,” Cassie accused.

“I’ll give you that, but you didn’t kno…” Jack started, but Cassie wasn’t finished yet. She still stood on the chair, looking at her uncle standing in the door opening. 

“You admitted that you might have a book about Italy lying around, which means you have at least a couple of books. And you had to think about it, and when you only have a couple of books you know exactly what you have. Besides, I know you’re smarter than you let everyone believe, so it should be obvious.” 

“I’ll give you credit for the first two points,” Jack admitted, as he walked towards Cassie, and helped her down, “but you can’t tell anyone else about it, ok?”

“Why not?” Cassie asked, looking at Jack while he put away the books and closed the closet. 

“Why do you think I don’t show them anyway?”

“Because you want them to think you’re dumb?”

“No!” At Cassie’s imploring gaze, which only a child could pull off, Jack grudgingly admitted, “Not dumb exactly, just… not as smart.” Cassie frowned; she didn’t understand why he did it, but he probably had a good reason, though why he kept it a secret even for his team, she didn’t know. And why his team hadn’t figured it out yet, she really didn’t understand. _She_ knew it, for crying out loud!

“Fine. I won’t tell.”

“Thank you. Besides,” Jack continued, “most of those books I never need. That’s why they’re standing behind the things I do occasionally need.”

“Aren’t you supposed to be in the kitchen?” Cassie suddenly asked, afraid she’d have to eat charred food. “I’m not eating it if it looks like Sam made it!” She warned. 

“Don’t worry,” Jack said with a smile. “I put it on a low fire. Though I think the potatoes need stirring.” 

With that they left the room and went to the kitchen. “Cass, could you set the table please?”

“Sure.” It happened occasionally that Cassie stayed for dinner, sometimes with her mother, so she knew where to find the table cloth and the utensils. Jack was just putting the finishing touches to the salad, when the door bell rang. 

“I’ll go!” Cassie shouted, rushing towards the door, peeking through the window first to make sure it was her mother. Jack O’Neill had taught her to wait with opening the door till he was there if it was someone she didn’t know. Cassie still thought he was exaggerating, but he’d been so serious about it, she would do it for him. 

It was Janet, so Cassie threw open the door. “Hey Mum!” She said excited. 

“Hey Cassie, how was your afternoon with the Colonel?” 

“It was great! We watched a movie, and you remember that project for school I have to do? Uncle Jack has a book about Italy but it’s in German! And I can borrow it! Isn’t that cool!” Janet had closed the door behind her and put her coat away, while listening to her daughter. 

“Wow. Do you understand it?” 

“Not _everything_ , but I haven’t read everything either,” Cassie defended herself. 

“Hey Doc,” Jack said as he walked out of the kitchen with the salad and potatoes. 

“Hello Sir,” Janet replied. “Can I help you with anything?”

“No, I’ve got it. Take a seat and practice on saying ‘Jack’,” Jack said with a pointed look, before disappearing once again to the kitchen. Soon he was back with the plates, a fillet steak on each. Next he put three glasses on the table and brought a carafe of water. He filled one glass and placed it in front of Janet, who nodded. “Thanks.” Then he filled another, and was about to put in front of Cassie when she interrupted. 

“Can I have another Coke? Please?!” She begged, looking at the Air Force Colonel pleadingly. 

“Sorry Cass, but you know the rules. Your mother said, no more than two Cokes a day, and I’m going to follow doctor’s orders.”

Janet snorted. ‘That would be a first.’ Jack threw her a warning look, but she just smiled back at him sweetly. 

“Mum?” Cassie looked at her hopefully. “Can I?”

“No, honey. We’ve talked about this. When we’re home you can have lemonade, but now we’ll stick with water, ok?” 

“Fine,” Cassie grumbled. Janet threw Jack a look which was both apologetic and showed her exasperation. They had indeed been over this before a couple of times, both with and without Jack present, and still Cassie kept trying. Jack shrugged. ‘Hormones.’

Soon they were all settled. Cassie was quick to cheer up, and chattered on about what she had read in the book, about how she didn’t like the substitute teacher for P.E. and so on, while they ate. 

“So, how was your day with your friend?” Jack asked the doctor, once Cassie seemed to have run out of steam for a minute. 

“Oh, it was great! Nancy and I have just been chatting for ages! It has been four years since I saw her, so we had a lot of catching up to do. She went to live in Spain for a few years, because of her husband’s job.” Jack listened to the woman opposite him as she talked enthusiastically about her friend. 

This was another side of Janet Fraiser. At work she was ‘Doc’, friendly yet always the professional. Outside of work, she’d let go of the professional-doctor persona, and just be Janet Fraiser, mother of an alien orphan whom she loved more than anything. Jack enjoyed seeing this side of her, loved the fact they could just be themselves, without having to maintain the strictness of rank. Sure, the military would always be a part of them, both of them, but he was glad they could let go of it partly outside of work. And he enjoyed getting to know more about her. After all, it wasn’t like Jack often came to the infirmary for a social call. But she was a good friend. 

“I’m sorry Si- Jack, I won’t bore you further with this,” Janet stopped mid-sentence, realising she was talking about someone neither Jack nor Cassie knew. 

“No, no, you’re not boring us. It sounds like a really good friend. Where did you meet?”

Janet sent him a smile. He really sounded genuinely interested. So she told them how she had met Nancy at a wedding. In the meanwhile they cleared the table; Jack made coffee, Janet did the washing up, and Cassie dried, with Jack in turn putting the stuff back in the cupboards. After that they went to the living room and had coffee, or in Cassie’s case tea. 

Finally, Janet stood up. “Well, it’s been a wonderful evening. The food was really nice.”

Jack shrugged, looking down at his empty coffee cup. “I manage. Thanks anyway.” 

Janet shook her head almost imperceptibly, but motioned for Cassie to stand up as well. “OK, let’s go. Come on Cassie.” Cassie looked up from the book, and went to get their coats. 

“Thanks Jack, for today.” 

“Sure thing, Janet. Anytime.” Janet smiled at his use of her name, and knew he meant the ‘anytime’. Now it was time to listen to Cassie and see what she’d found out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1 I actually have a German book about Rome, hence why I thought of it. It’s called: “Rom und Vatikan – die ganze Stadt in Farben” – Plurigraf  
> Translation: “Rome and Vatican – the whole city in colour” – Plurigraf  
> Disclaimer: while I do own a copy of this book, I did not write it. I only used its title for the sake of this story.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Couldn't help myself, and referred to MacGyver again. Shouldn't bother you if you don't know MacGyver though.

The open wormhole gave the room an eerie yet comfortably familiar glow, while all occupants waited for the incoming travellers to arrive. George Hammond checked his watch once again. For some reason SG-1 had sent their iris code through, but they had yet to arrive. And they hadn’t reported anything disturbing. He was about to order Sergeant Walter Harriman to try and establish radio contact when Major Samantha Carter walked through the gate with an amused expression. Immediately Hammond briskly walked to the gate room, just in time to see Colonel Jack O’Neill step onto the ramp and send Dr. Jackson a glare. Daniel, who stepped through notably quick after Jack, looked smug and merely sent Jack a smile. Finally Teal’c came through and the wormhole snapped shut.

The team walked to the end of the ramp, and was greeted by the General.

“Welcome home SG-1. Did anything happen when you were approaching the Stargate?” He asked, curious as to their delay. 

“Nothing, Sir,” the Colonel answered, ignoring the amused looks from his 2IC and Dr. Jackson. 

“Very well, report to the infirmary. Debriefing in half an hour.”

“Yes Sir,” Colonel O’Neill replied, starting to herd his ‘kids’ towards the door.

“And Colonel.”

“Sir?”

“Happy Birthday, Colonel,” Hammond said with a smile. Jack scowled, but hid it quickly. 

“Thank you, Sir.”

Hammond nodded, and the team left the gate room.

* * *

“I was not stalling,” Jack cried out, as he and Daniel entered the briefing room. 

“Yeah, right. Jack, your shoelaces were untied!”

“So? It happens every once in a while,” Jack defended.

“Yes, Jack, it happens exactly once a year… on your birthday. You might as well quit trying to stall, because you know we won’t just let it pass,” Daniel continued. 

In his office, Hammond chuckled as he heard the two argue, and when he saw Major Carter and Teal’c enter as well, he decided to join them. 

“At ease,” he said, the moment he entered, barely giving the two officers time to come to attention. “How did the mission to PRX-164 go?”

“Fine Sir,” Jack immediately answered. “Daniel discovered a new language, although it can’t have been that interesting, seeing as for once we didn’t need to drag him back to the gate. Carter played in the sand, and Teal’c entertained the natives with an eyebrow-raising contest. And then we came back home,” Colonel O’Neill reported in his usual style. Immediately Daniel protested.

“It _is_ interesting! You almost managed to trick me into staying.” 

Jack raised his eyebrow and cocked his head. “That’s my line.”

“Not today,” Daniel retorted. Hammond quickly drew his conclusions from the little bits of information he had. It was Jack O’Neill’s birthday, something which he didn’t feel like celebrating much, hence why he had apparently tried to stall, even going as far as to offer Daniel to stay an extra day or so, to study the new language.

“Major?” Hammond prompted, not needing to ask the question. 

“Once the soil samples have been examined, I’ll know more. So far, it doesn’t look like anything special.”

Hammond nodded. “Dr. Jackson?”

“I would of course like to study this language,” Daniel said, with a glare towards the Colonel, before turning his attention back to Hammond. “Well, it’s not a new _language_ , more of new dialect. First guess I’d say it’s from Asian descent, Vietnamese I think. Which is supported by the culture of the natives, especially by their…” 

His enthusiasm increased the more he talked about the language and the culture, and his eyes shone as he recalled the symbols carved into the walls of the natives’ temple. 

“Daniel.” 

The archaeologist’s head swivelled back towards the Colonel, whose chin rested in his hand. With raised eyebrows and a turning motion of the other hand, Jack indicated for Daniel to get to the point.

“Ah. Ehm. From what I’ve managed to gather so far, there hasn’t been any Goa’uld activity for some six to seven hundred years.”

“Thank you Doctor Jackson, I’ll await your report. Teal’c?” Hammond waited, curious if he’d hear more about this eyebrow-raising contest the Colonel had mentioned.

“I have no additions to O’Neill’s report,” the Jaffa stated.

“Then this debriefing is over. I’d like your reports in two days. Dismissed. Colonel, please stay behind.”

“Yes Sir.” SG-1 started to leave, and Jack waited. 

“Colonel. I don’t think I need to remind you of the dangers involved with this facility’s mission, so in the future, no stalling.”

Jack looked as though he was going to argue, but instead held back, and nodded. “Yes Sir.”

Hammond sighed, then shook his head.

“Jack, I don’t know why you’re even trying to avoid your birthday. Your team would and will drag you home if necessary,” Hammond continued, switching from being the base commander to friend, knowing Jack O’Neill could be up to more. 

“I don’t plan on letting it get _that_ far,” Jack said.

“Then I’ll see you tonight,” George said with a smile.

“Yes Sir. With your permission, I’d like to leave a few hours early to get some things ready. I would have before, but what with this mission…”

“Granted.”

“Thank you, Sir.” George nodded, and Jack left. The General turned around and went to his own office. SG-1’s team members weren’t the only people with paperwork.

* * *

The Air Force Colonel had just finished reading through the latest mission reports of SG-5, and he decided it was time to leave. He still had some things to do at home before everyone arrived. Not a _whole_ lot, considering everyone would be bringing some food or drinks, but there were still some things left to do. 

He closed his office, and walked past both Daniel’s and Sam’s office, poking his head in, to tell them he’d see them later on. Both had immediately offered to come straight away as well to help him, but he’d waved them off. 

They had had a tough time already, trying to convince him why he needed to celebrate his birthday. The first year they’d been working at the SGC he had managed to just ignore his own birthday, and would probably have been able to forget it completely, had not certain people insisted on calling him on that particular day, every year.

Yet one day, when Daniel had tried to explain the concept of a birthday party to Teal’c, his team seemed to have realised they’d been working together for over a year, and Jack had never mentioned his birthday. They had then pounced on him, demanding to know the date. He had told them eventually, knowing Carter could just look up his file and find out. And then they had insisted they celebrate it. Even Teal’c! He had finally conceded to a small celebration at his own turf, inviting only his team, Doc, Cassie, and George. 

He didn’t like celebrating his birthday, but not, like most people thought, because of his age, but rather because this event in particular reminded him of the absent ones, the family he had lost. He knew his team sensed some of this, and tried to cheer him up by showing he still had _some_ family. And even though he would still rather ignore the anniversary, he appreciated their efforts, he really did. He just couldn’t pass up the opportunity to try and ‘escape’ or at least act like he wanted to. Besides, if he didn’t, that would take away half the fun. 

On his way topside, Jack was greeted by several airmen and other employees, and many of them congratulated him. Jack inwardly sighed. ‘I really need to talk to George about saying such things in the gate room, in front of at least eight people who will have spread the news in no time.’

After a quiet drive, he arrived home. Since the mission to PRX-164 had been a 24-hour mission, which had come up rather unexpectedly because SG-2 had become bed-tied for a week, Jack hadn’t had the time to tidy up a bit. He also knew he could expect a few phone calls, which he’d rather not answer when in company. He loved his friends dearly, but they didn’t need to know everything about him.

And sure enough, the moment he put his jacket away, the phone rang.

“O’Neill,” he said as he picked up the phone. 

“Hey Jack! Happy birthday!!” He then heard whispering, and soon enough the voices of two young children could be heard singing ‘happy birthday’, along with the woman’s voice. Jack smiled, and when the song was finished, he said, “Thanks guys! You can sing really well!” 

He heard his niece giggle, and could imagine his nephew beaming with pride. 

“Thank you, Uncle Jack! Happy Birthday.”

“Thanks.” 

“How old are you now?” The young girl inquired curiously, to which he heard Dennis react, “You’re not s’posed to ask that!” 

“Why not?” Mandy whined. 

“Shush children,” the woman interrupted. Jack heard a click and some far-away-talking.

“You’re no longer on the speaker. I sent them to go and play, so we can talk. How are you doing?” 

Jack smiled. “I’m fine, Lucy. How about you?” The affection for her was clear in his voice. He could hear the smile in her voice as she responded.

“Good, good! Matt has gotten a pay-raise, and Dennis has started to show some interest in science…” She let the implication hang there as she waited for a response from her older brother. She wasn’t disappointed. His laughter was unmistakable through the phone. 

“I think you need to hide anything flammable in the house. Ask Angus not to give Tom too many ideas.”

Lucy snorted. “Let’s hope he won’t get that enthusiastic about it.” 

“Uhuh. I’ll help you hoping… just not sure if it’ll help any. It’s in the genes. Just glad it skipped me…” Jack just knew his sister’s eyebrow rose at that very moment, “…for the most part.”

“Right. Nice save,” Lucy commented. “So, how does it feel?”

“How does what feel?” Jack asked.

“Being 47.”

“Same as 46, and if it hadn’t been for certain reminders, I wouldn’t have noticed a thing. Why do you always ask that question, anyway? You know I’ll say the same thing every year.”

“You never know, maybe you’ll get so forgetful at one point that you forget what you usually said, and change your answer. Who knows, you may even tell the truth one day,” Lucy teased. 

“So, how is everyone else doing?” Jack changed subjects. Lucy had finally accepted that both her brothers had dangerous jobs, and that some things were classified. But it had taken a while before she’d gotten over it, and while they sometimes made jokes about it, both brothers felt uneasy about it, especially towards their sister. 

“Great. The kids miss you… so do I.” 

“Hmm,” Jack murmured. He missed his little sister too, and her children, and he got along with Matt very well; he was a fine man who truly loved Lucy. Jack couldn’t have asked for a better husband for his dear sister.

“When can you come by again?” Lucy asked quietly, knowing how erratic his schedule could be. It had been that way for years.

“Don’t know. I’ll drop by when I’m in the area.” 

“Ok.” Lucy sighed inwardly, knowing that was the best thing she could hope for. “Don’t forget!” She warned. “So,” she continued in an upbeat voice, trying to cheer them both up, “was I first?”

Jack laughed. “Yes, you beat Angus… again. I’m sure he’s trying at this very moment.” 

“Could very well be,” Lucy said happily, in a tone that made it clear she wasn’t feeling guilty at all. 

“You also know that next year he might just try and disable your phone connection for a while, or something like that?”

“Let him try!” Lucy said with a laugh. “No, seriously, I’ll let him get on the phone then. It was nice hearing your voice again, Jack. Happy birthday once again, and Matt said ‘hi’.”

“Tell him ‘hi’ back, and give the kids a hug. I enjoyed talking to you too. Take care Lucy. Bye.”

“Bye.”

They both ended the call, and for a moment Jack stared at the phone. It really wouldn’t have surprised him if Angus would have been trying to call him at that precise moment. After ten seconds of silence he decided to start with cleaning his house. Though first he’d sort out the mail. 

Electricity bill, two postcards, and some junk mail. He put the junk mail aside, and walked to his office with the bill, while reading the two postcards. One of them was from Feretti, obviously written by a female nurse, since Lou didn’t have such neat handwriting. The other was from Sara, both wishing him a happy birthday. 

For a moment he sat down in his chair behind the desk. At first, Sara and he hadn’t had a lot of contact after their divorce – they had sent each other birthday-cards and Christmas-cards. They still did. But after the incident with the crystal-Jack and crystal-Charlie, he’d gone to her house, and explained as much as he could and was allowed to. Which, admittedly, wasn’t much, but Sara had appreciated the gesture nonetheless, and had accepted Jack’s underlying apology. Slowly they had reached the point at which they could at least still be friends. And, if possible, they would go to Charlie’s grave together every year.

Jack sighed. Why did thinking of his ex-wife bring up such confusing emotions? They were divorced. He’d signed the papers. That chapter of his life was over. Yet he’d be hard pressed to say he didn’t think about her at least once a week. The engine of his truck would make a funny noise, and he’d remember how much Sara loved to tinker with cars. He’d come across an apple tree, and remember the apple tree they had planted in the garden together with Charlie. It didn’t matter what the papers said; he still loved her. 

Brusquely he shook himself from his thoughts. The cards disappeared into the drawer, which was then locked. He had other things to do. 

He had almost finished cleaning the living room, when the phone rang again. 

“O’Neill.”

“Happy Birthday Jack!” A cheery voice said through a rather bad connection.

“Thanks Angus. Where in the world are you? You’ve had bad connections before, but usually not _this_ bad.”

“Gee, thanks. I’m trying to do my best, even going as far as to use my last paperclip – my _last_ paperclip, you hear me! – to fix this phone, and this is the thanks I get. Remind me why I liked you again?” Angus, better known to the world as ‘Mac’ or ‘MacGyver’, immediately shot back.

“Ooh, your _last_ paperclip? You must be desperate.” Jack made a mental note to send his youngest sibling a bunch of paperclips. 

“Not desperate exactly. Just… out of paperclips. You know, more than once one of those things has gotten me out of a difficult situation.”

“Yes, so you’ve said before. So, are you in trouble again?” Jack asked, only half-joking. His brother easily picked up on the worried undertone. 

“Don’t worry, nothing’s wrong, I’m fine.” 

“Then how did you end up with a broken phone, with only one paperclip left, in the jungle?” Jack asked matter-of-factly. He could almost see his brother’s surprise. 

“How…?” Angus started to ask, then changed his mind. He knew his older brother had been in almost as many cultures and environments as he had, and wouldn’t have much trouble picking out certain distinct sounds to identify his location… even through a bad connection. “Never mind.”

“So?”

Angus sighed, his brother could be tenacious if he wanted to. Hmm, maybe it ran in the family? “Just tagging along with a friend of mine. Nothing to worry about. Well, one thing only, though that’s more his concern… _he_ accidentally dropped _my_ paperclips in the water.” Jack grimaced, then smiled. This friend, whoever it was, would have to be very careful, and find Angus plenty of paperclips A.S.A.P.

“OK, sounds like you’re having fun then. Let me know if you need me, got it?”

“Jack, I can take care of mysel-” Mac started to say, but was interrupted by his older brother. “Did I say ‘if’? I thought I said ‘if’. I did say ‘if’, didn’t I?”

Mac rolled his eye in amused exasperation. “Yes, Jack, you said ‘if’.”

“So you’ll let me know?” Jack persisted. 

“Fine.”

“Good! When will you be back home?” 

“It will be at least another week. Anyway, I’ve got to go now. Enjoy your birthday.”

“Thanks Angus. Be careful.”

“You too, Jack. I mean it.” Mac couldn’t hide the concern he had for his seven-year-older brother, nor did he try. He didn’t see him very often anymore, but he knew Jack was way too much like him – or was that the other way around? – as he just seemed to attract trouble. 

“I will, now shoo, go off on your rock-finding adventure.”

“Thanks Jack. Bye!” Mac grinned at his brother’s description. 

“Bye.” 

They both hung up, and Jack put the phone back in its normal place. Now that he’d had the two phone calls, he could put some more speed behind his ‘mission’. Two hours later, the doorbell rang, so Jack got up from the couch where he’d been lounging while listening to classical music. On his porch were Sam and Teal’c, both holding plates, bags, and in Teal’c’s case, a box. Jack received a glare from the Jaffa from just looking at said object, so the Air Force Colonel wisely backed off.

“Hi Sir,” Sam said with a wide smile. 

“O’Neill.” Teal’c tipped his head forward marginally, clutching the object, while managing to hold onto a plate and several plastic bags as well. 

“Major, Teal’c, come in. You’re the first to arrive.”

“Oh, I thought Daniel wasn’t far behind us,” Sam said, turning around to look outside. Sure enough, a car drove onto Jack’s lawn. Only it wasn’t Daniel’s car. Once parked, the passenger’s door swung open, and Cassie jumped out, turning around only to pick up a plastic bag and to close the door. 

Jack indicated for Sam and Teal’c to continue to the kitchen to put down the foodstuff, while he held open the door for Janet and her daughter. Jack moved to put a plate on the dinner table, but Sam gave him a friendly slap on his wrist, at which he raised his eyebrows. 

“That’s our job today. You just go and sit,” The ringing of the doorbell interrupted the blonde Major, “or open the door.”

At Jack’s hesitation, Janet added, “Go ahead. We know where to find what we need. Consider yourself banned from the kitchen momentarily.”

“Banned from my own kitchen,” Jack muttered, though finally he shrugged and gave in. “Ok, but I won’t hear of any complaints later on.”

“It’s Grandpa George!” Cassie reported, after having looked through the window. Jack went to open the door, with Cassie standing beside him, who was beaming with excitement. 

“Hi Grandpa George!”

“Hi there, Cassie. How are you?”

“I’m good!” And off she went, bouncing back to the kitchen to help her mother.

“Come on in, Sir. If you have anything edible you want to dump, the kitchen is just over there on the right; I would take it from you, but at the moment it seems I am no longer allowed to go into my own kitchen,” Jack rattled off.

George Hammond smiled, and stepped inside. He had been around a couple of times before, so he knew where to find the kitchen. However, the food he’d brought was taken from him when he entered, and soon he too was ushered away from the kitchen, with the announcement that ‘they would manage, oh, and please take Teal’c along too’. Once more the doorbell rang, and Jack let Daniel in.

“Hey Danny, got anything good?” Jack asked, holding open the door, while Daniel awkwardly carried a carton box with all sorts of drinks. The linguist just wrinkled his nose, trying to keep his glasses from sliding off his nose.

“I think you’ll like it, but instead of standing there, could you at least give me a hand?”

With an amused grin, Jack shrugged as he closed the door. “Seems you’ve got your hands full already. We’ll shake hands once you’ve delivered the good stuff to the kitchen.”

“Haha, Jack, very funny. Can you please take this box before it slides out of my fingers!”

Suddenly Teal’c appeared. “I will take over, Daniel Jackson. O’Neill is currently no longer allowed to access the kitchen.”

“Huh? What? Oh, eh, thanks Teal’c.” With a relieved sigh, Daniel nodded at the Jaffa, who brought the drinks away. Then he looked enquiring at Jack, who stood there with a silly grin. “Carter and Doc have taken over the kitchen, and banned me.” 

“Ah. Right.” Daniel pushed his glasses higher up his nose, and shrugged out of his jacket. “So… is everyone here yet?”

“Yep, you’re the last one, as usual.” 

“I’m not always the last one!” Daniel protested, as he followed Jack to the living room.

Within twenty minutes, everyone was settled with a drink by their side, chatting with each other. Then Daniel got their attention, as he proposed a toast to Jack. Everyone joined in, and then Cassie chimed in, “Shouldn’t we sing?” 

The adults looked at each other. Janet’s mouth curved upwards at the corners, and Sam and Daniel reached a silent understanding. George watched as Jack realised what the decision was, and smiled at the horrified groan that escaped from his 2IC’s mouth. Daniel started, and quickly the rest joined in. The _Happy Birthday_ -melody filled the room, or at least something that was supposed to resemble it, and Jack shook his head, quickly followed by a resigned smile.

Once it was finished, Jack hastily spoke up, afraid they’d continue on to another song. “Ok, thank you guys. That _really_ wasn’t necessary,” there was some chuckling, “but thanks.”

“So,” Daniel said, looking around, “how about we continue on to giving the gifts? Anyone who wants to start?”

After a moment of silence, Hammond sat up, and reached to the bag next to him. “I’ll start.” He took a small package from the bag, and handed it to Jack. “Happy birthday Jack.”

“Thank you, Sir.” The General sat back down, and everyone watched as Jack unwrapped the gift. No one but Jack could see the object, but as soon as he saw it, he started to grin. George inwardly smiled at the desired reaction, and said sternly, “ _That_ had better stay far away from my car; am I clear, Colonel?”

“Yes, Sir,” Jack said with a smile, putting away the hockey puck, remembering the incident when they had thought Daniel had died. The logic of Hammond’s warning escaped everyone else, though they knew Jack had been trying to locate his hockey puck for weeks now. No doubt he’d taken the boy from next door out to the ice rink to play some hockey, and had forgotten to take his puck with him.

Daniel looked at Sam, who nodded. “OK, well, Sam and I decided to get you something together.” This time it was Sam who reached towards the wrapped object next to her. “Happy birthday, Sir.”

“Congratulations, Jack.”

Jack thanked both of them, and started unwrapping the circular object. It felt kind of heavy. When the wrapping paper came off, he was slightly taken aback. He looked at the gift in disbelief, before looking up at his two team-mates. “Guys, this is… this is way too much to accept.” 

“What is it, Uncle Jack?” Cassie asked curiously.

“It’s a special lens for my telescope,” he replied. “But really, you shouldn’t ha-” He turned back to Sam and Daniel, but was interrupted by Daniel. “But we did.”

“Sir, you’ve wanted to buy this lens for months, but you didn’t buy it because you thought you wouldn’t use it often enough. That makes it a perfect gift, Sir,” Sam reasoned. 

“Besides, we’re not going to bring it back, so you might as well just accept it,” Daniel put forth. Jack smiled. 

“Ok, I give up. Thank you guys,” he said sincerely. It was plain for everyone to see he was happy with the gift.

“You’re welcome, Sir.” Sam smiled at him, glad it was a success. 

“We’re next!” Cassie said, the gift already on her lap. “Mum gets to go first, though,” she explained, when she didn’t make a move to give the package to her ‘uncle’. Janet gave her gift to the Colonel, a smile playing on her lips. 

“Congratulations, Sir.”


	3. Chapter 3

“Thanks, Doc.” Silently he wondered what that secretive expression in her eyes was all about, while he unwrapped the rectangular object. When he saw what was inside, he had to quickly draw his face into an expressionless mask, before he could burst into laughter. Slowly he picked up the book. Then he looked up at the doctor, who was looking at him innocently, though he noticed her eyes twinkling. “Why, thank you, Janet. Ehm, from the picture I assume this is a book about chess?”

She nodded, while the rest of the group looked at them confused. “May I ask why it is in…” He looked back down at the book’s title, seemingly to try and figure out what language it was. 

“It’s apparently Swedish, Sir,” Janet filled in, playing along.

“Swedish? Can I see?” Daniel asked. “Why Swedish?” Jack showed him the book, and curiously Daniel started to look inside, still waiting for Janet’s answer. 

“Well,” Janet started, having thought of an excuse beforehand. “I had seen this book a few months ago, in English. But when I wanted to buy it for the Colonel, they told me it was sold, and that they only had the original version.”

“Which was in Swedish,” Daniel said, rather than asked. Janet nodded, and Daniel handed the book back to Jack.

“Yes. It would have taken too long to order.”

“And how am I supposed to understand it?” Jack asked amused. 

“Well Sir, I think now you need to open Cassie’s gift,” Janet replied, at which Cassie eagerly jumped up. 

“Happy birthday Uncle Jack!” She hugged him, and handed him the package. Again it was rectangular, but it was smaller and thicker. Cassie stood next to him as he opened her gift. Jack started laughing when he saw what it was.

He held up the gift to show the rest. “Swedish – English/ English – Swedish dictionary,” Daniel read out loud. Sam started giggling, and Daniel and George smiled. Jack pulled Cassie in another hug. “Thanks Cass. I’m sure I’ll understand the book much better now.”

Cassie grinned. Teal’c stood. “I believe it is time for my present. I will acquire it from the kitchen.” Within no time Teal’c was back, and held the box out to Jack. “It would be wise to refrain from turning it,” he deadpanned. 

Jack raised one eyebrow. “Ok,” he said slowly, putting the startling heavy box on his lap, and cautiously pried the tape loose. Once that had happened, he opened the box. He carefully took out the bowl. Curiously he looked up at the Jaffa. “A goldfish?” 

“So you can have at least one fish in your pond,” Teal’c said with a straight face, the only hint of humour glinting in his eyes. Again the whole group started laughing. “Thank you Teal’c,” Jack said to his brother-in-arms with a grin. 

“Thank all of you.” He looked around at the people in the room, his ‘family’. “Now… let’s eat.” They moved to the dinner table, where the food was stalled out. Janet and Sam quickly walked to the kitchen to take out the rest of the food from the fridge. Everyone could just take what they wanted and put it on their plate, and go and sit wherever they liked. Soon everyone was talking and enjoying their meal. Jack had put the presents to a side, and together with Cassie had fed the goldfish with food from a small bottle that had also been inside the box. 

The evening passed by quickly as everyone was enjoying themselves, but finally General Hammond announced his departure.

“I’ll be going now. I will see you tomorrow.”

A chorus of goodbyes floated around the room, and Jack walked his CO to the door.

“I’ll bring by the plate tomorrow, George,” he said, referring to the plate of food Hammond had brought with him. “That’s ok, Jack. You can bring it next time you’re coming around to my place.” Jack nodded, and Hammond left.

Sam would bring Teal’c back to base, so they would probably be leaving soon too. Or not.

“Sir, we can help with cleaning up.”

“Sure you can, but I’m reclaiming the kitchen as my domain. You still have to drive up the mountain and back, which reminds me – Teal’c, make sure Carter actually goes home again, and does not stay at the SGC.” Teal’c nodded. “I will ascertain myself of it, O’Neill.”

“I wasn’t going to stay,” was Sam’s indignant response. 

“Uhuh,” Jack said, obviously not believing that for one second, as he stared at her pointedly. 

“Not long, at least,” she amended grudgingly. Jack’s mouth curved into a grin, but he refrained from commenting.

“I’ll see you two tomorrow then.” 

“Are you sure you don’t want help with the dishes?” Sam asked for one last time. Janet appeared from the living room, carrying a couple of empty glasses. “Don’t worry about it Sam, we’ll take care of it.”

“OK. Goodnight everyone.”

Sam and Teal’c left as well, and Daniel, Janet and Jack cleared the living and dining room. Cassie had fallen asleep on the couch a bit earlier. Soon Jack and Janet were finishing off the last dishes. Daniel looked around to see if there was anything left to do. 

“You can go home Daniel. We’ll finish this last bit,” Jack said, rinsing another glass, and handing it to Janet who dried it and put it back into the cupboard.

“OK, if you’re sure. By the way, when are you going to get your dishwasher fixed?”

“Yes, we’re sure. Don’t know about the dishwasher, and frankly don’t care much at the moment either. See you tomorrow, Daniel,” Jack said, nodding towards his friend, since his hands were covered in soap. 

“OK, see you. Goodnight.” Daniel left as well, and the two adults finished the dishes in silence. 

“Ok, that was that,” Jack said, washing off the soap from his hands. Janet looked around as well, checking there was nothing else. Then she looked at the Colonel.

“Sir.” 

“I’m not even going to remind you,” Jack said as he dried his hands with a towel. Janet smiled briefly. 

“Jack,” she corrected herself. “About the book.”

The grey-haired man looked at her, and smiled. “Nicely done. I assume it had something to do with my Swedish goodbye?” 

Janet smiled too, though she didn’t reply; it wasn’t necessary. “If you’d rather have the English version, I can go back to the store and switch.”

“Are you kidding! I think it’s great to have it in Swedish. Besides, I need something to use the dictionary for.” He winked at her. Janet’s smile widened, and she nodded. “That’s what I thought. At least you’ll have something else to practice your Swedish with.”

Then Jack frowned. “‘Something _else_ ’?” He inquired suspiciously. Janet winced at her slip. ‘Why does he have to pick up on those little things?’ She thought. Seeing Jack’s expression, she knew she would have to explain.

“I know you have a book to learn Swedish.” 

“And _how_ would you know that?” Suddenly it dawned. “No, don’t tell me. You had Cassie find out for you, didn’t you.”

Janet nodded, and watched as Jack shook his head. “Sneaky. I was wondering why she didn’t just ask me about the books.”

“Well, I figured you probably had more books in different languages; I just needed to know whether you already had anything in Swedish. I couldn’t very well ask you, and neither could Cassie of course. She told me she had seen where you hide your books, though she didn’t tell me where. All she said was that she’d seen a book about learning Swedish, and that it was the only Swedish book she’d seen.”

Jack nodded, lost in thought. “Do you mind?” Janet asked after a while, causing Jack to look up.

“Mind what?”

“Having Cassie go through your books.”

For a moment Jack looked at the woman before him. He didn’t like people going through his stuff, but he couldn’t blame Cassie for being curious. 

“No, I don’t mind. The two of you already know I speak German, so what’s the point in hiding that from you? Though I would prefer if it didn’t happen again,” he added with a pointed look. 

“Don’t worry, I don’t even know where you have those books, and I won’t tell anyone about them either, if you don’t want to,” Janet offered. 

Jack quirked his eyebrow. “You’re scaring me Doc. How many experiments do you want to perform on me in return?” He asked mockingly. 

“Is that an offer, Sir?” Janet asked, causing Jack to quickly back-pedal. “You were saying?”

Janet smirked, but let him off the hook. “We’ll stick to our original deal. You don’t tell about my language-abilities, and I won’t tell about yours, or your hidden bookshelves.”

“Agreed,” Jack said. But now Janet had another question.

“So… do you already speak Swedish, or not?” 

A mysterious smile formed on Jack’s face, and Janet just knew she wouldn’t get the answer out of him… not tonight at least. She’d get another opportunity to try and pry it out of him… at some point in time. Maybe she could ask when he was drowsy from pain-meds, next time he was in the infirmary…?

They had walked to the living room, and stopped. A tender look spread across their faces, as they looked at the sleeping girl on the couch. Then Janet caught sight of the clock, and sighed. “We should be going,” she said softly. “Oh, I hate to wake her like this.”

Jack looked sideward at the doctor. “You know you can leave her here; spare bedroom is always set up.” For a moment Janet considered the offer. She knew Cassie wouldn’t mind. Then she shook her head. The Colonel would have to be back at base early in the morning, and she didn’t want to cause him any trouble. Not that Jack would consider it trouble to get Cassie up and about, and back at her place – he loved the girl as a daughter, that much was obvious. But they would have to wake Cassie at some point, so they might as well do it now, and let her sleep in her own bed. Besides, Janet liked to be close to her own daughter. She was already away too often, dealing with emergencies on base.

“I know, but I think it’s better if she can sleep a bit longer in the morning.” Jack nodded, correctly guessing at what thoughts had played through Janet’s mind. Cassie may be an alien child, she was Janet’s daughter as much as Charlie had been his son. 

“I’ll see if I can carry her to your car without waking her up,” he said, but Janet shook her head. “She’ll have to wake up once we get home anyway, she’ll probably fall back asleep in the car.” She went to sit next to the sleeping girl, and while pushing a loose strand out of Cassie’s face, she started talking to her. 

Groggily Cassie mumbled something, but her eyes remained closed. 

“Come on Honey, we’re going home,” Janet insisted gently, while caressing her daughter’s hair. Finally Cassie’s eyes opened partly, looking first at her mother, and then at Jack, who stood just a little further. “Wh… What?” She asked sleepily.

Janet smiled, and helped Cassie to a sitting position, while Jack disappeared and came back with their coats. The doctor accepted hers, and Jack helped Cassie into her coat.

The care and familiar ease with which he did it reminded Janet of what a great father he was for Cassie and must have been for Charlie. With a start she realised Charlie had been about Cassie’s age. She wondered if it was significant, but after a moment of consideration declined that thought. He would have loved Cassie as a daughter anyway, had she been older, younger or this age. The only additional emotion it may have brought would have been reminders for the Colonel of what his son may have been doing had he still been alive. 

“Ready to go. Come, I’ll bring you to the car,” Jack interrupted her thoughts. Cassie leant heavily against him when they stood, and he ended up carrying her to the car anyway. The anticipation and excitement of the day had exhausted her young body. 

His hand gently caressed the girl’s cheek, before Jack closed the car door and walked around to the driver’s side. “Do you need help getting her inside?” He asked Janet. She shook her head and smiled. “I’ll manage; I’ve had experience holding up Colonels who wouldn’t admit to being ill or injured,” she said, her eyes twinkling with playful mischief. Jack took it in his stride, and replied seriously. 

“Those Colonels really should thank you for the support.” Both knew he meant not only the physical kind of support, and Janet accepted his covert gratitude with an understanding nod. 

“Gute Nacht, Jack,” _(Goodnight, Jack,)_ she said with a grin, to lighten up the mood. Immediately Jack’s eyes sparkled with amusement.

“Dobran-, eh, God Natt, Janet,” Jack responded, quickly correcting himself when he realised his mistake. Janet looked at him sharply, but his face revealed nothing. Whatever he had wanted to say, before saying ‘goodnight’ in Swedish, hadn’t been any language she recognised. But it was obvious he wasn’t going to tell her, and she needed to get Cassie home, so with a last warning look, she turned the key and drove off. Jack watched them disappear, inwardly smiling. ‘Tack, Janet.’ _(Thanks, Janet.)_

**The End**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ‘Dobranoc’ means goodnight in Polish, ‘God Natt’ is goodnight in Swedish, and ‘Tack’ is also Swedish. Please correct me if I’m wrong, because my Polish and Swedish are limited to what I could find on the internet.


End file.
